Poker Face, Peacock’sColumbo-inspired “howcatchem” starring Natasha Lyonne and created by Rian Johnson, became one of 2023’s surprise hits when it premiered its first season earlier this year. So it was no surprise to see it quickly get an order for a follow-up season. But is there an end in sight?
WhenPoker Facewas renewed for season 2 at Peacock, it was clear that this new hit series had some legs and the stamina to use them. Season 1 saw Lyonne’s human lie detector Charlie Cale on the run across the country from a mysterious and intimidating foe, solving far more murders than the average human tends to encounter on any given road trip. But while the setup for season 2 introduced a new antagonist to drive Charlie’s continuing trek, it kept things at square one, opening the door for more of the same addictive episodic stories. It begs the question, how long can Johnson and Lyonne keep this up?
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At a recentDeadlineevent, the two spoke about several topics involvingPoker Face, including their hopes for the future. “We want to keep doing it and I feel like it is very much built so that there is an overarching story but it’s kind of similar to the story of whether Sam is going to get home onQuantum Leap,” Johnson said. “It kind of doesn’t matter really, it’s just an engine to be able to keep her on the road and keep her moving and keep doing these little mysteries and having exciting people in them. Our goal is to just keep doing that as long as we can.”
Poker Faceis a change in Johnson’s typical formulabut maintains a trend seen inKnives OutandGlass Onion. Namely, it offers audiences an endearing central figure to keep returning to through all the different mysteries. “What I realized is that what these shows have in common is they all have an incredibly charismatic star at the center,” Johnson explained, mentioning how cozy character-focused shows likeColumboinspiredPoker Face. “I’m following the mysteries, sure, but I’m mainly watching to hang out with Peter Falk every week. There aren’t that many people out there who can do that today. So when I saw Natasha inRussian Doll, met with her and we became friends, I knew Natasha was someone who could pull this off.”
Lyonne is sometimes seen as an underrated actress, andPoker Facegives her a place to shine in the role and as a director for one episode, “The Orpheus Syndrome.” It turns out it was a collaborative effort between Lyonne and Johnson. “Pretty much everything that has to do withPoker Faceis Rian’s fault,” Lyonne joked. “I was in Puerto Vallarta trying to sleep. Then Rian sent me a documentary on Phil Tippett and we sort of had this vision quest and from there it blossomed into what it was going to become with Nick Nolte and this story of regret and a very catchy title, ‘Orpheus Syndrome,’ that’s important.”
Johnson has already said there areendless possibilities forPoker Facegoing forward, and after hearing this, it’s easy to believe. There’s clearly a lot of passion behind the series, so just letting Johnson and Lyonne keep running with it for as long as they can sounds like an ideal situation. Here’s hoping they keep up the addictive formula they so brilliantly captured in season 1.
